Will Smith Lands with the Montreal Canadiens in Corey Pronman's 2023 Re-Drafted Mock

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Elias Adaime
October 20, 2024 (12:31)

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Many were disappointed to see the Montreal Canadiens select David Reinbacher over Matvei Michkov at the 2023 draft.

Not helping these fans, the young Russian prospect scored his first two NHL goals Tuesday night.

A full season has passed, and things have changed significantly for both prospects mentioned here. The Habs' defenseman somewhat lost a year of development in 2023-2024, as his Kloten team faced many struggles. To add to that, his injury will cost him another season of progress, and many already believed he was far behind Michkov.

Fortunately, the Canadiens organization has a very specific plan for him during his recovery.

Meanwhile, the Flyers managed to get Michkov out of the KHL before the end of his contract. The young man had a strong training camp and started his NHL career with three points in as many games.

As if to rub salt in the wound for Canadiens fans, Corey Pronman of The Athletic had some fun by redoing the 2023 draft order one year later.

Matvei Michkov far ahead of David Reinbacher if we redo the 2023 draft

As the site HabsolumentFan reminds us, here is the top 15 of this re-draft:

1. CONNOR BEDARD - C (1st - Chicago)

2. ADAM FANTILLI - C (3rd - Columbus)

3. LEO CARLSSON - C (2nd - Anaheim)

4. MATVEI MICHKOV - RW (7th - Philadelphia)

5. WILL SMITH - C (4th - San Jose)

6. NATE DANIELSON - C (9th - Detroit)

7. DMITRY SIMASHEV - D (6th - Arizona)

8. RYAN LEONARD - RW (8th - Washington)

9. GABE PERREAULT - RW (23rd - NYRangers)

10. DANIIL BUT - LW (12th - Arizona)

11. AXEL SANDIN-PELLIKKA - D (17th - Detroit)

12. ZACH BENSON - LW (13th - Buffalo)

13. CALUM RITCHIE - C (27th - Colorado)

14. DAVID EDSTROM - C (32nd - San Jose)

15. DAVID REINBACHER - D (5th - Montreal)

Seeing Reinbacher drop from 5th to 15th stings. It could be even worse in a few years if the young man fails to develop as expected after his injury.

Beyond the Habs and Flyers' prospects, it's impressive to see the leap Gabriel Perreault has made. Moving from 23rd in the draft to 9th in just one season is quite remarkable. He could turn out to be a great pick for the Rangers.

In 36 NCAA games with Boston College in 2023-2024, the Quebecer racked up 60 points, including 19 goals. He already has one goal and one assist in two games this season with the same team.

Could the son of former Hab Yanic Perreault ultimately have been a better pick than Reinbacher?

Nevertheless, Reinbacher still has plenty of time to prove us wrong!